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Somebody tossed five 10-day-old bunnies into a garbage can in Ajax over the weekend.

The eastern cottontails were rescued from an Anstead Cres. trash bin and are now in the hands of caretakers at the Shades of Hope Wildlife Refuge in Pefferlaw — about 90 kilometres northeast of Toronto.

“We are hopeful they will survive, but the jury is still out at this point,” Gale Lenters, founder of the wildlife centre, said Monday.

The bunnies were dehydrated and thin upon arrival. Each baby is small enough to fit in one hand and feeds through a tube twice a day.

If they do survive, volunteers will return them to the wild once they achieve a healthy weight and can look after themselves.

Bunnies typically stay in their nests for three weeks before heading off on their own, Lenters said. Leaving them alone is their best chance for survival.